Healthy People 2020

The Healthy People initiative is a decade-based national strategy to identify the most important opportunities for improving our population’s health. The latest iteration, Healthy People 2020, represents the collective efforts of representatives, including veterinarians from a broad range of disciplines. The Healthy People 2020 Consortium includes more than 350 national organizations including the AVMA.

The AVMA has developed policies or guidelines (e.g. food safety, antimicrobial resistance, infectious diseases, environmental health, and public health infrastructure) that relate directly to many topic areas of Healthy People 2020. The opportunities outlined in these topic areas as well as the new topic areas of older adults, preparedness, global health, and social determinants of health should be a priority for the entire veterinary profession. State and local veterinary associations, schools of veterinary medicine, and individual veterinarians should acquaint themselves with the objectives of Healthy People 2020 and apply them in their one health endeavors.

Healthy People 2030 will eventually replace Healthy People 2020. Public and animal health professionals must integrate their work in the common arena shared between them. The AVMA and the veterinary profession must continue to increase awareness of veterinary contributions to human health and those of other medical professions.